


Bedtime Surveillance

by Batfink



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Comfort, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Nightmares, Realization, Surveillance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-27
Updated: 2014-09-27
Packaged: 2018-02-19 00:04:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2366882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batfink/pseuds/Batfink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony's nightmares have become a familiar if unwanted part of his life ever since he was held hostage, so when they stop, without him doing anything to make them, he's confused.  Jarvis suggests a look at the penthouse security cameras might shed some light on it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bedtime Surveillance

Tony's nightmares hadn't been waking him up recently. Which was a good thing, but it also had him kinda confused. Why had he suddenly stopped waking up in a cold sweat, fighting the blankets and screaming at nothing?

He was down in his lab when he voiced his confusion to Jarvis one afternoon.

“Perhaps you should watch the surveillance footage of your room from last night?” Jarvis suggested in response.

Tony frowned but tapped on one of the nearby monitors and pulled up the recording from the previous night. He always found it strange watching himself on the screen. Even though he knew the cameras were in every room, he always carried on as if they weren't there. After all, the only person who ever saw the footage was himself and he very rarely watched it.

He cued up the feed to start just as he was getting into bed. So far, nothing unusual there. He watched himself as he stripped down to his boxers, throwing his clothes in the nearby laundry hamper and climbing into bed. He watched as he got comfortable and it wasn't long before he saw himself fall asleep.

He'd been asleep about 15 minutes before he saw his bedroom door open and Loki slipping into the room. What the hell? Tony though watching as Loki crossed to the bed. Loki climbed carefully onto the bed, lying down on his front beside Tony who was lying on his back currently. Loki was wearing a green long sleeved t-shirt and black fleece lounge pants. He propped himself up on his elbows and with a flick of his hand produced a book. Settling down, his side pressed against Tony's, he started to read the book.

From the angle of the camera in the room Tony couldn't get a good look at Loki's face but from his movements a thought occurred to him. “Jarvis, is he reading aloud?”

“Yes, sir.” Jarvis replied.

“What's he reading?” The book in Loki's hands was also out of the camera's range.

“A Song of Ice and Fire.” Jarvis told him.

“Loki's reading me Game of Thrones?” Tony asked perplexed. “You'd think my nightmares would be getting worse.”

Loki carried on reading from the book and Tony wished his surveillance feed had sound. He liked Loki's voice. The Tony on the screen showed no sign of actually hearing Loki reading to him and certainly Tony could remember nothing of this. He watch as the recording of himself moved casually in his sleep, just the odd twitch here or there. His eyes almost bugged out of his head though, when he saw his sleeping form roll onto his side and actually throw one leg over Loki's. For his part Loki showed no sign of noticing and carried on reading.

After about an hour had passed, Loki closed the book and made it disappear. Carefully he rolled onto his back, Tony's leg still crossing his. He folded the pillow on the side of the bed he had claimed in half and propped it under his head, folding his hands on top of it to cradle his head.

He lay like that, staring up at the ceiling. Tony had always figured Loki to be content doing nothing and this confirmed it. Tony didn't understand how anyone could stay so still for so long.

He noticed immediately when the nightmare started. Looking at the monitor he saw his brow furrow and one leg kick out. He watched as his body began to twitch and a distressed look appeared on his face.

Loki reached out and slipped an arm under him pulling him close. Repositioning him so that his head rested on Loki's chest. Loki kept one arm wrapped around him and brought the other down to stroke gently though his hair. Tony could tell by the way his lips moved that he was making some sort of shushing sound as he did so. Tony was now wrapped completely around Loki, snuggled into his side. He watched as the tenseness went out of his muscles and his face relaxed back into dreamless sleep all the while Loki was stroking his hair, murmuring to him.

Tony was amazed that Loki stayed awake all night soothing him. He kept him tucked to his side, fingers stilling only occasionally in his hair, usually when Tony shifted slightly in his sleep. As morning approached Loki's eyes shifted to the lightening window and just as Tony began to stir as though he was waking up, Loki blinked out of the room. It happened in less than a second, he was there and then he was gone.

As Tony had been lying half on top of him, when he disappeared, Tony fell forward onto the mattress jerking awake. That he did remember, but he thought he had just been having one of those dreams where you're falling and wake up when you hit the bottom.

“How long has this been going on?” Tony asked Jarvis.

“Just over a week, sir. Although the book is new. He's only been reading to you for about three days.” Jarvis replied.

Tony pulled up the surveillance log and scanned back to the beginning. It had started with Tony waking up screaming in the middle of the night. Loki had come into his room and spoken to him, a confused look on his face when he got no response. “He was asking what you were screaming for.” Jarvis supplied. “You didn't answer him as you were still asleep but he seemed concerned that you were thrashing about.”

After a few moments Loki left the room. The following night, it was the same thing. Tony screamed and Loki came and stood over him, a puzzled frown on his face. The next night, when Loki came into the room he sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out a hand to Tony's head. Petting him for a while. As Tony settled a small smiled edged onto Loki's face, like he had discovered some new trick. Once Tony was settled Loki left, although he came back later when Tony started thrashing and screaming again. Over the next couple of nights, Loki came and went throughout the night as Tony's nightmares did the same, petting him, holding him, muttering soothing nothings all as Tony slept on oblivious.

One night however it appeared that Loki had decided to pre-empt the nightmares and this was the first night that he came into Tony's room before the nightmares started, settling himself on the bed and producing the book. This method seemed to be working best as once the first nightmare was soothed away no more came with Tony safe in Loki's arms.

Tony paused the feed and stared at the monitor, a frozen image of himself tucked up against Loki, his face against his shirt covered chest, arm wrapped around his middle, leg thrown over Loki's while Loki stroked long fingers though his curls.

“Why didn't you tell me about this before?” Tony enquired.

“It seemed to be working.” Jarvis replied. “If I told you, there was the possibility that you would make him stop and that, I believe would be detrimental to your health and well-being.”

“This is the same guy that threw me through my window.” Tony replied.

“I can assure you I would have alerted you, if I thought you were in any danger sir.” Jarvis responded in a haughty tone.

So what do I do now, Tony wondered. Should he say something to Loki? He wanted to thank him for helping him but when they were awake, they weren't what you would consider close. For the most part Loki treated him with what you might call casual indifference and to be honest Tony treated him with a great deal of long suffering suspicion.

He had not been keen on the idea of Loki coming to live with him. When he had been captured by the Avengers it had quickly become clear that there wasn't a prison anywhere on Midgard that could hold him. Therefore the plan had been that Thor would take him back to Asgard, but before that happened, Thor had come to visit Tony and begged him to come up with an alternative. Thor believed that Loki could be helped and he was very persuasive. Not to mention Tony knew all about being in need of a little redemption. He had therefore, against his better judgement agreed that Loki could move in with him where Jarvis could keep an eye on him.

Cap, Fury and Clint had decided at that point that Tony had taken leave of his senses, but Natasha and Bruce, who both had their own feelings on redemption had backed him along with Thor of course and so Loki stayed. On the condition that the other Avengers moved into the tower also to be on hand just in case. Tony had agreed, but punted them down to the lower floors. One house guest was enough he told them, he wasn't having any more.

In truth, he just hadn't wanted more witnesses to his nightmares. He had figured Loki wouldn't care about his screaming in the night and although he had known there was a chance Loki would have heard him, he hadn't really thought anything of the fact that Loki had never mentioned it. He thought maybe Loki was a deep sleeper or slept with his headphones on. The wireless headphones had been the only thing that Loki had asked his brother to get him, when he had enquired if he wanted anything to keep him occupied. Tony had already given him a Starkpad so that he could download movies and music and order clothes, he had known that Loki could conjure his own books.

Tony shut off the monitor and went back up to the penthouse. Loki was nowhere to be seen but Jarvis informed him he was in his room. Tony banged on his door as he reached it. “What do you want for dinner?” This was the usual nightly conversation. Tony was going for acting casual.

There was no response. Tony flipped the door open and glanced in. The room was dimly lit, Loki was on the far side of it, leaning over rummaging in a drawer, his back to Tony, headphones in place. His hips swaying in time to music Tony couldn't hear. Tony was mesmerised by the way Loki moved and stood in the doorway staring at his butt as it wiggled to the music. Finding what he was looking for, Loki picked it up and straightened. Turning he caught Tony staring at him. He pulled off his headphones. “Catching flies are we, Stark?” He chuckled.

Tony snapped his jaw closed and tried to pull himself together. “I knocked.” He managed at last. “I'm just going to order dinner. What do you fancy tonight?”

“Pizza.” Loki grinned at him. It had quickly become his favourite.

“You'll get fat if you keep eating pizza all the time.” Tony remarked.

“Does that mean you won't love me anymore?” Loki asked, smoothing down the front of his t-shirt like he was checking for any sign of weight gain. Before Tony could reply he spun and stuck his ass out at him. “Does my bum look big in these?”

“Your bum is perfect.” Tony replied without thinking, then slapped his hand over his mouth turning beetroot. “I...” He began as Loki burst out laughing. “Pizza, right.” He spun on his heel and bolted from the room calling to Jarvis to order pizza as he hurried down the corridor to his bar.

What the hell was that, he thought to himself as he sipped at his scotch a moment later. Loki had been flirting with him. That was new. Or was it? Maybe it was only now that he knew about Loki's night time visits that he was seeing Loki in a different light and it was allowing him to notice him more. Now that he thought about it, there had been hints.

Loki standing just a little too close any time the other Avengers were in the penthouse. Their fingers brushing in the morning when Loki handed him a cup of coffee. The green long sleeved t-shirt Loki wore to sleep in that he had stolen from Tony when the clean laundry had been delivered back. Tony had thought he just liked the colour, but maybe he also liked it because it was Tony's. As he scanned back through his memories of the two weeks Loki had been living there, it became apparent that Loki had been making an effort to get closer to Tony. An effort Tony had been completely oblivious to.

That being said. If he had been aware, Tony would have been deeply suspicious of Loki's motives, but knowing that he had been helping him sleep without wanting Tony to know about it, made Tony think that Thor had been right all along. His brother was actually a decent guy who had just made a serious mistake after his world was shattered and he fell in with the wrong crowd. That was something Tony could definitely relate to.

“Pizza's here.” Jarvis informed him. Since it was made in the staff kitchen downstairs it didn't take long to be delivered up to the penthouse. “Tell Loki.” Tony replied heading for the door to collect it.

A few moments later they were sitting side by side on the sofa eating pizza. It was a large sofa but Loki was close enough that their shoulders almost touched.

“So.” Tony broke the silence when they were halfway through the pizza. “What chapter are we up to?”

“Chapter?” Loki asked glancing across at him brow furrowing.

“Yeah, A Song of Ice and Fire, what chapter?” Tony smiled at him.

Loki paled slightly, no mean feat for a guy with skin as pale as his. “I wondered when you would find out.” He whispered. “What gave me away?”

“Nothing actually.” Tony replied still smiling. “I told Jarvis that I thought it was strange my nightmares seemed to be improving and he suggested I watched the surveillance footage from last night.”

“Surveillance footage?” Loki stared at him.

“Yeah, there are cameras in every room in here.”

Loki's eyes went wide. “Even in my room?”

“Yeah, but don't worry, there are none in the bathrooms and I never watch the footage.” Tony grinned suddenly. “Although maybe I should to see you naked.”

Loki's jaw dropped and Tony leaned across and kissed him. Tossing the slice of pizza he had been holding back into the box and wrapping his arms around Loki, pulling him close.

Loki kissed him back for a moment, before snapping back into himself and pulling away. “What are you doing?” He panted slightly, forehead resting against Tony's.

“Thanking you for helping with the nightmares.” Tony grinned tilting his head to kiss the tip of Loki's nose.

“Oh.” Loki replied. “In that case, carry on.”


End file.
